diff --git a/make/py-defs.mk b/make/py-defs.mk
index 98c22bbb..bf8f06fa 100644
--- a/make/py-defs.mk
+++ b/make/py-defs.mk
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ else
   PY_SITE_PACKAGES_PATH     := $(shell $(PYTHON) -c "import site; print([d for d in site.getsitepackages() if d.find('/local/') == -1][0])")
 endif
 
+PYTHON_RUNNER               ?= $(PYTHON)
+
 PY_SRC_PY                   ?= $(wildcard *.py)
 PY_LOCAL_PY                  = $(PY_SRC_PY)
 PY_INSTALL_PY                = $(filter-out __init__.py,$(PY_SRC_PY))
diff --git a/make/py-run.mk b/make/py-run.mk
index 629f88b1..af042bc6 100644
--- a/make/py-run.mk
+++ b/make/py-run.mk
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ include $(JWBDIR)/make/run-success.mk
 
 EXE                         ?= $(firstword $(wildcard main.py runme.py test.py *.py))
 EXE_ARGS                    ?=
-PYTHON_RUNNER               ?= $(PYTHON)
 
 all:
 install: